SOUTHBOROUGH – Town Meeting passed a $46.8 million fiscal 2015 budget Wednesday with relatively little disagreement among town officials or residents.

The most discussed topic wasn’t spending, but accounting, as the town implemented a new line item for capital purchases officials said was aimed at streamlining approval at Town Meeting.

Several residents objected to the streamlining, noting that the approximately $500,000 line item contained no detail.

"I feel like it gives you a lot of freedom to do whatever you want with my money," Board of Health member Nancy Sacco said as others nodded in agreement.

After one resident made a motion for the intended purchases to be spelled out, Selectman Bill Boland asked for some latitude.

"There has to be some trust in administrators and department heads that they’re using the money (appropriately)," he said.

Town Meeting members voted to require officials to spell out the spending, which included mostly vehicles, including new police cruisers and a new vehicle for the Public Works Director.

The only other extended discussion was about the hiring of two new firefighters. Board of Health chairman and selectman candidate Louis Fazen III said he was concerned the town wasn’t looking closely enough at the post-retiree benefit costs associated with adding the new jobs.

Fire Chief Joseph Mauro said he did an analysis and didn’t think the cost would be too high. The financial Advisory Committee, with the exception of one member, felt comfortable with adding the firefighters.

Advisory member John Butler said firefighters recently came to the committee asking for help.

"They were burned out to a degree," he said. "They were feeling it was too stressful working the amount of OT that they were."

The fire department budget and all other budgets ended up passing easily. The total for all the budgets was $46.8 million, a 3.64 percent increase from the current fiscal year.

Town Meeting approved an $18.3 million budget for the K-8 Schools as well as approved Algonquin Regional High School’s $20.1 million budget. Southborough’s share of that budget will be $7.4 million this year.

Before the meeting began, Moderator David Coombs thanked retiring Superintendent Charles Gobron for his four decades with the school system.

"He’s (always) retained a sense of perspective and humor," Coombs said of Gobron, who received a standing ovation from the audience.

Town Meeting had not yet considered a controversial acceptance of open land on Nipmuc Lane by press time Wednesday night.

Brad Petrishen can be reached at 508-490-7463 or bpetrishen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @BPetrishen_MWDN.